Decrease Your Family's Disposable Waste

Who wants to wash dishes? It is a chore everyone tries to avoid, but in an effort to make house cleaning less of a chore, we are polluting our earth with garbage that won’t go away. Help your environment by limiting the items you throw away.

You might be perplexed as to how to go about that. If you don’t throw away the garbage, you might be concerned that your home will become like a landfill. Don’t worry! The solutions for decreasing waste don’t in any way involve foul smells or piles of trash in the kitchen.

It does however involve a change of mind and attitude about your home and the environment. Technology has brought us quick and easy ways to fix meals, store items and clean up. Unfortunately, those items are not always eco-friendly.

Let’s take our meal utensils. Most homes have at least one roll of paper towels, a pack of Styrofoam or paper plates, and a stack of disposable cups. When we throw these things away, they end up in the garbage heap. The chemicals used to make these disposable items can leech into the water table and then into our drinking water.

That’s not all either. Disposable water bottles will sit in the landfill as well, poisoning the soil and the water. What about batteries? We throw them away and the stuff inside of them leaks out. That’s nasty business.

Saving the environment is saving us. Help your family to reduce their disposable waste with reusable products. Reusable products save money at the grocery store and keep trash to a minimum. Here are a few suggestions.

Use real plates and silverware when eating. Yes, someone will have to wash dishes and that can be the automatic dishwasher which is more energy efficient than a person. You’ll notice your trash volume will decrease immediately.

Use old clothes and towels for cleaning. When your towels start to look like Swiss cheese, remand them to the cleaning pile. Wash and dry your cleaning rags to be used over and over again.

Use cloth napkins and handkerchiefs. These can also be laundered. Buy them in packs instead of as a single to save money.

Refill reusable water bottles. If you go to the gym or like to drink water, invest in a durable water bottle. For those who want filtered water, add a Brita or Pur water filter to your faucet.

Create your own cleaning products. Use natural herbs, plant extracts and water or vinegar to clean. Use reusable bottles and refill them when you run out.

Your family can do a lot to save the environment with very little effort in fact. It does take a change of mind but if you keep each other accountable, it can be done. Honestly, there’s no excuse for not reducing your waste as a family when you think about how easy it can be.